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June 25, 2009

G72: Nationals 9, Red Sox 3

The Nats batted around against Smoltz in the first inning, scoring four times on four hits, one walk and one HBP.

Smoltz (5-7-5-1-5, 92) settled down -- he retired Washington in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings -- but the damage was done. His fastball was around 91-93, and while he had trouble all night commanding his slider, he showed flashes of dominance. He struck out the side in the fifth.

Daniel Bard and Takashi Saito each allowed two runs out of the pen. David Ortiz had a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Rocco Baldelli hit a first pitch, two-run homer in the ninth.

Smoltz, 42, begins "a new chapter" tonight. He last pitched in a major league game on June 2, 2008. Eight days after that, he had right shoulder surgery. This will be his first start since April 27, 2008.

Back in mid-January, when Smoltz signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox, Theo Epstein said:

When I close my eyes and envision it, I see [John Smoltz] starting important games for us late in the season and hopefully into October.

Expectations are high, but how Smoltz will do against major league hitters remains a question mark. He had a 2.63 ERA in six minor league starts, but half of those starts were at A and AA.

Still, as long as his shoulder is healthy, a fair amount of hype is warranted. Look at his ERA+ over the years -- he hasn't really had even an average season since 1994 -- especially the three full seasons after he left the bullpen and became a starter again (at age 38!): 138, 127, 137.

[C]oming back from surgery, as I've said many times, this is not a half-year job. This is not something I wanted to do just for a half a year. I plan on pitching past this year. ... I enjoy what I'm doing. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get back to this point, and if I were doing it to prove one human being or 10 human beings wrong, I'd be foolish. I'm doing it because I love it. When I came back from the surgery, I knew I could pitch again.

J.D. Drew played with Smoltz in 2004:

He's probably the most competitive player that I've ever played with. Ever. High school, college, anywhere. Just everything he does, he competes at it and he loves it. I think that's exactly what [Red Sox fans] will see.

Chipper Jones:

It's like the Red Sox have made a big trade or signed a blockbuster free agent in the middle of the season.

Ian Browne notes that Smoltz is the only pitcher in history to have at least 200 wins and 150 saves:

Smoltz's entire body of work is fascinating, because it hasn't been replicated to such an extended degree in two different roles. Dennis Eckersley comes the closest, but he wasn't Hall of Fame caliber (149-130, 3.71 ERA) as a starter. The Eck was a first-ballot Hall of Famer because of his dominance (390 saves) as a closer.

As a starter, Smoltz is 206-141 with a 3.33 ERA and 2,731 strikeouts. During his four years in the bullpen (2001-04), Smoltz was about as overpowering (2.41 ERA, .215 opponents batting average) as any closer.

Trivia: The first major league batter to get a hit off Smoltz? Dave Magadan, back on July 23, 1988. Neither man remembers much about the at-bat.

Finally -- months ago, while poking around for Smoltz stuff, I discovered that he isn't too keen on full equality for all people. Back in July 2004, he expressed his disgust for gay marriage:

What's next? Marrying an animal? ... If somebody believes two men should be able to get married, well, I think that's wrong. That's against everything that man is built on.

Smoltz later claimed that "Nowhere in my conversation was I critical of gays". I guess comparing gay marriage to bestiality was supposed to be a compliment. To my knowledge, he has not shed his ignorance (or his support of the FARM Act) in the subsequent five years.

***

With Smoltz joining the pitching staff, Dusty Brown is headed back to Pawtucket after four days in the bigs:

It was everything I expected it to be. It was great and it couldn't have come at a better time. ... It was awesome and everyone was great to me. You get a taste of it now. When I go back I know what I'm playing for and where I want to be.

Jason Varitek (who has caught 53 of the Sox's 71 games) says he has had a sore neck since June 12.

I don't know how I did it. I don't know if it was from whiplash from a foul ball or what. ... We've been treating it and we're staying on top of it and hope it goes away.

Sixty percent of Varitek's hits (26 for 43) have been for extra bases, the second-highest ratio in the majors behind Rays first baseman Carlos Pena, whose at 64 percent. Nine of Varitek's last 12 hits (six doubles, three homers) have gone for extra bases.

224 comments:

*sigh* Well, crap. I was very excited about his start until I read about his opinion on equality... ah well, guess he goes in the file with Schilling and some other sports stars, I may have to root for 'em, but I don't have to like them....

Wow, Smoltz is a real class act...that's odd, I have never seen anything written about him that would focus on his ignorance so this does come as a shock. Now onto baseball...what do the Sox do if Smoltz shows his age, do they try and reinsert DiceK into the rotation, or do they bring up Clay...I'm curious because Smoltz is very old.

Luckily I don't have a strong opinion on the issue so his stance does not bother me. I think it's interesting, however, that he would be so public about it. This falls under the category of shut-up-and-play-baseball. I don't care what your opinions are on gay marriage or the military or the war in Iraq or what's happening in Iran or health care or Bush or the infidelity of a Governor.

From that article: "In addition to Smoltz's comments against gay marriage, he predicted that it was only a matter of time before an openly gay player is among the MLB ranks. Despite his religious beliefs, Smoltz was reported to say he wouldn't have a problem having a gay teammate 'unless it compromised the team.'"

So I guess he left some room for not being a complete asshole in 2004, and it's always possible he's moderated in the intervening five years.

Is everyone mad at the fact he doesn't agree with gay marriage or the animal comment?

The animal comment is stupid and immature, but if he believes gays shouldn't be married, I have no problem with his opinion, or his ability to speak on a issuse when asked .....but to say you don't "like" the man because he has different views then you is a little shortsighted....Everyone wants everybody to be so tolerant and support the the things they support and when they don't they shouldn't automatically become bigots and the scurge of JOS society...

That maybe true, in the fact , that I don't really care how Smoltz or any athlete thinks or what he believes in....His opinion means nothing to me....His thoughts don't affect my life, and I bet most gays as well, he is unimportant voice in the fight for gays to have marriage rights....

I guess I have torn feelings about the whole thing. On the one hand, I'm not bothered at all by Steve Nash or Carlos Delgado taking political stands or making political statements ... because, to be honest, I agree with them. In order to be fair, guys like Smoltz and Schilling have a right to their opinions, even odious opinions, and I have to separate that from them as players.That being said, what Smoltz said was *really* bigoted. I hope he's mellowed his attitude over the past five years (A lot of people have been, I think.) I honestly think a lot of people who have issues with gays or gay marriage legitimately have a hard time seeing their "issues" as bigotry. I take solace in that they're becoming fewer, and more and more people just don't have a problem with gay marriage or see what the big fuss is about. I think ultimately the good guys are going to win that battle.

"His thoughts don't affect my life, and I bet most gays as well, he is unimportant voice in the fight for gays to have marriage rights...."

That's true to an extent. But in some sense public statements by prominent individuals do affect all movements.

If, for example, a prominent athlete was to voice support for equal marriage, it would mean a lot. Likewise, public statements equating gay people with people who have sex with animals helps legitimize those ideas - it partly makes it ok to hold those views.

As for what affects our own lives, when you're involved in social issues like this, everything affects your life. :)

But I have no problem separating this from the Red Sox. I will be rooting for Smoltz every pitch of every game as long as he wears that uni. It's a fair bet everyone else who commented on this feels the same way.

Although I believe everyone is entitled to his/her opinion, that does not mean that I cannot find that opinion repulsive, upsetting, morally wrong, etc. I feel very strongly that treating people differently because of their sexual orientation (or color or religion or national origin or sex, etc.) is just morally wrong. Equal rights to marry, adopt, own property, practice your religion, etc.---to me, those are basic human rights that no one, especially not the state, should deny to anyone. So yeah, I hate to hear that Smoltz may be that closed minded.

OTOH, that was several years ago, and many many people have changed their views on same sex marriage. Perhaps Smoltz has as well.

I will likely be late, at best, tonight for the game. But despite whatever I think of Smoltz and his opinions, I still hope he lives up to the hype. I have my concerns that he will, but I am still hoping.

My saying I do not have a strong opinion means if someone asked for my vote for gay marriage I'd say yes but that's as far as my involvement would go. I don't feel like it's my fight.

To sum it up in a very quick way on how I feel... Do gay couples deserve 100% equal rights as heterosexual, married couples? 100% yes. Should it be called marriage? I'm on the fence. Part of me feels that hey, why not? It's just a word, right? Another part of me feels there should be some distinction between the two. But how can there be different words for the two and still have a feeling of equality?

In the end if it's called marriage or something else, as long as they have equal rights and benefits as married couples if they make a same commitment to each other as married couples, I'm fine with it.

I feel like this needs to come to a conclusion soon, though. I don't like how the laws are being decided and laws are written then repealed then re-written and challenged, etc etc etc. Feels like a battle without a conclusion.

I'm not bothered at all by Steve Nash or Carlos Delgado taking political stands or making political statements ... because, to be honest, I agree with them. In order to be fair, guys like Smoltz and Schilling have a right to their opinions, even odious opinions

Absolutely. I cannot remember if I mentioned Delgado when he made his anti-Iraq invasion comments (he has also spoken out on other topics).

But players can say whatever they want -- and I'll either say I agree with them or disagree with them, or I'll ignore it.

a lot of people who have issues with gays or gay marriage legitimately have a hard time seeing their "issues" as bigotry

Most people will not freely admit "Yep, I'm a bigot" or "You better believe I'm a racist!"

***

Smoltz later said that the animal comment was tossed off as a joke at the end of the interview -- and he was not seriously equating the two. But the comment had to come from *somewhere* inside him -- a person does not make that type of remark out of a clear blue sky. Why would you make that "joke" in the first place?

"There are differences. With the Red Sox you go to Fort Myers and you know you'll be in the postseason. With the Nationals it's a young team and you just gotta go out there and do your thing and stay healthy."

He also said he texted Manny when Manny went 0-for-2 in his first rehab start and said "They're gonna send you to A ball now."

He also said he was surprised with Manny's suspension, but referenced how hard he works. When the interview was over, Lips said, "And I just want to say thank you to the fans of Boston for your support in the last 2 and a half years. You're gonna go all the way. I was hoping you were gonna go all the way last year. You're gonna go all the way this year. Thank you fans."

I saw some rumor that Michael had been taken to the hospital, and simultaneously shrugged off the possibility that he might die and asked myself if it would upset me. I didn't think so. There has just been so much garbage under the bridge since he meant anything to me. All I could think of is people settling bets as to whether or not he would actually do those London concerts.

But when I saw the headline that he was actually gone, I did feel my heart sink down in my chest a little. Incredible talent, very sad life, and some of the best dance/pop music ever came from him. I never considered myself specifically a fan of his, but I did not believe the stories of his having sex with children either (which is to say I feel it's very, very unlikely he did).

Being 36 , he was the biggest thing on the planet when I was in High School, my sister was a huge fan posters everywhere, wore one glove, we practiced his dance moves in the mirror for hours( I can still a few,ladies). For a moment during his height from the Motown Show, the videos from Thiller to Beat it and Bad, the world watched his every move I have never seen a person with as much star power and talent to captivate people in my life, and I most likely won't ever again...Here in America we tend to try and take those down who are great at what they do......But I will always say there was never a performer like him...Tragic and Sad, some may disagree , but I really don't care...2 pop culture icons taken on the same day....

Thanks for the Bowden link, Allan. I generally do not keep up with the up and coming players. I figure when they get here, I will have time enough to figure out who they are. But good to know we have a 22 year old in the system.

Just not the Sox night, which means tomorrow I'll have to here the moaning from the co workers about how they have to do something, which will be followed by me banging my head against the wall saying "best fragging record in AL, winners of fragging 12 of last 16 games, best bull pen in the game...."